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Peruvians shot and burned by Brazilian Brigands
Considering these words—which I noted but promptly discounted—I immediately worried about the
deplorable effects they might have in the midst of a population whose memory was still alive to the
eventsofthosedays.Ithoughtofremovingtheimprovisedgravestone,butassoonastheywereaware
mark the end of our mission. There could be a severe rupture which I feared in view of its possible
outcome, because upon the first outburst I would have at my side not only my traveling compan-
ionsbutalsothenumerousneighboringcompatriots,whichwouldgivemeincalculable superiorityof
force. But I understood that this was above all a disadvantage: we were still in areas populated only
by Brazilians, and we had the might, but however much loyalty we might invoke in that emergency,
there would be no lack of those who would perceive in this fact a treason, an assault that could com-
promise my country. In addition, I feared the disruption of the negotiations that I understood were on
the table and of whose status I was ignorant. I understood also that one should not annul so much
effort and expense by giving too much value to what might simply have been an error, a moment of
bad judgment, infinitely below the honor of our country. . . .
Weighing all these, I decided to leave things as they were but to resolve them upon my return. I
turned to the tasks at hand, to go forward, to advance as far as possible, and to surmount the myriad
obstaclesofthemissionentrustedtome.ButIcontinuedunderthespecterofthatepitaph.Icaughtup
with the Peruvian Mission two days later—and when Sr. Buenaño quickly sought me out, alluding to
what had transpired in Funil, I quickly countered that for me the subject was too painful and disrupt-
ive to the task we were trying to achieve, and I asked that he change the subject. He acquiesced, but
I sensed that my attitude further aggravated his dislike of me, which he had had from the beginning,
even though veiled with an affability that I always found highly surprising.
ThuswecontinueduptoCataíandCuranja.Thetripbecamedreadful.Havingbutonehelpermeant
that, however dedicated he was, he could not free me of my various tasks, which ranged from astro-
nomical observations to the most detailed review of camp accounts. I had to manage our provisions,
which due to the scarcity of food had to be rationed. My labors were further interrupted by the need
to maintain order in the ranks, which was a sharp contrast to the correct foreign troops camped at our
side. Arriving in Cataí, where I was racked and bedridden with fever, I reviewed the gravity of our
situation. The remoteness of our current camp, the obvious scarcity of our supplies, the labors that
we had carried out and those that lay before us, the depressing prospect of that advance into the wil-
derness whose objective now seemed almost obscure had visibly disheartened about half of my party.
Noting all this, I dared not delay there. I continued on, ill, trading my bed for the prow of the ca-
noe, where I meant to carry out the reconnaissance as we traveled upriver. But even as another attack
of fever, more violent this time, prostrated me, at least our ascent was not slowed. However, on the
morning of ___, a few days before we arrived at Curanja, disaster struck: the mutiny of five soldiers,
whom I had to send back as prisoners, to Cataí.
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